


Life, Multiplied

by biswholocked



Series: JWP 2016 [13]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Afghanistan, Character Study, Depressed John, Episode: s01e01 A Study in Pink, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, John in Afghanistan, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 20:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7478565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/biswholocked/pseuds/biswholocked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything is more raw in Afghanistan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life, Multiplied

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day thirteen of JWP. Today's prompt was: Let your entry today feature an element of nature that is less than pleasant.
> 
> Warnings for brief mentions of death, suicidal thoughts, and potential run on sentences. Title is from a quote, "War is life multiplied by some number that no one has ever heard of."

Everything is more raw in Afghanistan. The mountains stand in stark relief against the bright sky, the ground is made of dirt and dust that grind against John’s throat and nose. The animals watch them with cautious eyes from the underbrush, and the people tilt their chins high with pride as their shoulders droop with weariness. Colors are more vibrant, whether it’s the sunset or coppery blood spilling over John’s hands.

He feels things without reservation here. Joy, despair, hunger; all these words become tangible in the pull of a comrade’s hug, the slowing of a victim’s pulse, the gnawing in his stomach after two days without food. Afghanistan makes no apologies for itself. It simply  _ is _ , and those who inhabit it either come to embrace it or leave.

John embraces it. He doesn’t hide his skin from the bright sun, his compassion from the locals, his grief from the others when Murray dies. In return, he is given a tan, trust, and support. Things the young child he used to be could never imagine having.

He gets shot. The pain tears through him, leaving fear in its wake and leeching away his strength. His last thought is  _ please, God, let me live, _ as rough hands scramble with a compress.

Recovery is slow and hard-won (or so his doctors say). They ship him back to London, an honorary discharge, but there is no honor in this grey, broken life. Everything is muted now, covered by a fog. The only thing John feels is apathy. London is full of polite small talk and murmured “excuse me”s, and John’s decided he’s had enough when Mike spots him in the park. He has a gun, purchased through a friend of a friend; it’s high time he makes a use for it.

He follows Mike to Bart’s on a whim, to relive the past one more time. And then, there’s Sherlock Holmes.

The moment their fingers brush, a shiver runs down John’s spine.  _ Pay attention, _ his brain tells him.

“Afghanistan or Iraq?” Sherlock asks, and everything clears, like a camera shifting into focus. It’s the same feeling John had when he he went to training, the first time he stepped off a helo and onto Afghan soil, the first time he saved a man’s life.

It’s coming home.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments always welcome and appreciated!


End file.
